Changing Place in Synagogue When a Relative Dies on Shabbat
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Question
If someone's father passed away on Shabbat, should they change their place on that day?
Answer
Even according to the Ashkenazi custom of changing one's place on Shabbat, one should not change their place if a relative dies on Shabbat.
Source
It is written in the Responsa of Maharam of Lublin, Siman 107, explaining the words of the Rema that this is not public mourning: "It seems that the reason for the custom is that since mourning has already begun before Shabbat, they do not refrain from observing some mourning practices on Shabbat as long as it is not complete mourning, because seven days of mourning are required, and there are no seven without Shabbat, and Shabbat counts towards the days of mourning, therefore it is necessary to observe some mourning laws, and hidden things are observed." Later he writes that for this reason, if a relative dies on Shabbat or a festival, the place is not changed, and this is quoted by the Pischei Teshuva, Siman 293, Se'if Katan 7, and so writes the Magen Avraham, Siman 548, Se'if Katan 5, and the Mishnah Berurah there, Se'if Katan 15. And so it is written in the Responsa Panim Meirot, Part 2, Siman 124.
In the Shirei Knesset HaGedolah, glosses on Beit Yosef, Yoreh De'ah, Siman 293, it is written: "And the custom in places is not so, but even if one dies on a festival, the place is changed."
In practice, the custom is as in the Mishnah Berurah, that the place is not changed on the day a relative dies.
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